


starlight silver

by demonglass



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fairies, Flying, M/M, Nature, Play Fighting, Requited Love, Slow Dancing, Tenderness, as renhyuck do, dreamy vibes, renhyuck trust fall but this time they actually do it, straight up theyre just in love. that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23371924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonglass/pseuds/demonglass
Summary: Donghyuck falls. As always, Renjun is there.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan
Comments: 15
Kudos: 81





	starlight silver

**Author's Note:**

> writing this made me really happy and calm even though i've been having a hard time lately so <33 i hope you enjoy

The sun shines gold in the sky. Light filters down through green leaves shining with dew, refracts off the sparkling river to send rays dancing in the air like winged creatures. The grass is damp in the shade, dry in the pools of sunshine scattered between the trees. 

Donghyuck is laying flat on his back, watching clouds drift in and out of view and giving them names and shapes. Here a hare leaping from treetop to treetop, there a garden snake slipping and curling through the wind. Something about the sky in this place makes him feel like if he stays long enough, he might be lifted up into it, carried away by the breeze. 

He wonders what it would be like to fly.

“I thought I’d find you here.”

Donghyuck rolls onto his side and there Renjun is, landing on light feet and sending the smell of fresh grass and jasmine floating into the air. Donghyuck smiles. “I thought you’d find me, too.”

In a moment, the sky falls away, the sound of water running over rocks in the river grows faint and distant. Renjun is all Donghyuck can see. His tinkling laugh is the only sound in the world. “How did you know I would come?”

“How did _you_?” 

Renjun sinks down to sit beside Donghyuck and his smile is soft like sun-melted butter. “I just knew.”

“Me too.” It’s as easy as breathing, really. Donghyuck rolls onto his back again, but his eyes stay on Renjun, face turned towards him like flowers to the sun. But Renjun isn’t blinding, doesn’t hurt to look at; he’s soft-edged cheeks and long lashes and petal pink lips. Renjun shines, then, like the moon, with stars for eyes instead of craters. 

Donghyuck aches with quiet joy in his presence, at once calmed and exhilarated. Though he doesn’t know how to say it, when he smiles, slow and unfurling like spring blossoms, he can tell Renjun knows. Sometimes the silence is all they need. 

And then there’s this: Renjun is stronger than steel, but when he reaches out to brush a hand across Donghyuck’s cheek, it’s as delicate as porcelain. At the touch, Donghyuck’s eyes flicker in the sunlight and threaten to close despite his wishes to stay alert and soak in the day. Renjun’s fingers comb through Donghyuck’s hair with impossible care, brushing it away from his forehead and curling the tips so it spills like honey all around Donghyuck’s face. “You should see yourself,” Renjun murmurs. 

Donghyuck hums. He’s more than content to stay like this, to simply see Renjun. Renjun, who shines like he’s lit from within, glowing just as much in the sun as he does under moonlight. Just sitting in the grass, he’s ethereal. Renjun is what dreams are made of. 

He’s what Donghyuck’s dreams are made of.

“Have you learned any new songs?” Donghyuck asks to keep himself from getting lost in Renjun’s glittering galaxy eyes. 

“One,” Renjun says, lips curling at the way Donghyuck lights up.

“Sing for me?”

His voice is soft when he answers. “Always.” 

Donghyuck feels sun-warmed by a single word.

Renjun takes a breath in and lets it back out. Song flows from him like water swimming down the river, like wind circling the sky. When Renjun sings, Donghyuck feels like he’s floating. He doesn't know a word of the song, but he feels it dance around his body, a living, breathing thing. Renjun’s voice seeps into his skin, sweeter than honey, and makes him weightless. 

This is as close as he can come to flying. Renjun gives him wings made of delicate notes and sounds that have colors he can see clear as day. Renjun’s voice is the sound of flight, of abandon and freedom.

When the song bows in close and races away on the breeze, silence wraps around Donghyuck again. He sinks back to his body and feels Renjun’s eyes on him. The touch is as real as that of his hand still light on Donghyuck’s skin. 

“Beautiful,” Donghyuck whispers.

Renjun trails a finger down the bridge of Donghyuck’s nose before brushing feather-light over his lips. “One day I’ll teach you.”

Donghyuck smiles and his lips feel warm where Renjun’s fingers have touched. “I’d like that.”

“I know.” 

Of course.

*

The moon is out, hanging low in the sky, so big it looks close enough to touch. Donghyuck is leaning back against a mossy boulder, one arm behind his head. “Do you think you could fly that high?” 

“You’re crazy,” Renjun laughs, the sound as light as the distant song of crickets. 

“I’m serious,” Donghyuck says, but his voice has a teasing lilt to it.

“So am I.” There’s no bite to Renjun’s words. If anything, he sinks more into Donghyuck than he already has. His back rests on Donghyuck’s chest, his head laying snug in the junction of Donghyuck’s neck and shoulder. Renjun’s hair brushes against the skin of Donghyuck’s throat and sends shivers through him. 

Donghyuck wonders if he’s too warm, if that’s why Renjun is melting against him. He knows that’s not quite it, though. “So you can’t touch the stars?”

Renjun shakes his head, sends little thrills over Donghyuck’s skin. “I can.”

“I thought you couldn’t fly that high?” Donghyuck lifts his hand from where it’s resting just above Renjun’s hip bone and points to the sky.

Laughter bubbles in Renjun’s chest, soft enough that Donghyuck feels more than hears it. “I don’t need to.” He lifts a hand of his own to wrap around Donghyuck’s, gentle as the kiss of summer rain, and draws his arm back down to earth. When Donghyuck’s hand is settled against Renjun’s middle once more, Renjun doesn’t let go. 

Summer rain is warm and always welcome.

*

Wind whips through Donghyuck’s hair and whistles in his ears. Twilight bathes the world in deep shades of purple and blue, pink and gold. He’s halfway up an old oak tree and his hands are raw from the bark, but his cheeks hurt from the grin tugging on his lips. He can’t fly, but he can climb. From here, through pockets in the leaves, he can see the forest laid out beneath him like a sprawling sea. A kaleidoscope of brilliant color under the sunset.

Donghyuck pulls himself up another branch, eyes on the next parting of leaves, his next view. Six deep breaths, the strain of his arms and the push of his legs, and he’s there. Shorter trees, younger and greener, fall beneath him, and he’s level with the rest. Only a few are older and taller than his, and they’re scattered throughout the woods. 

From this perch, Donghyuck is on top of the world. 

He shuffles out, leaving behind the security of the tree trunk to draw himself closer to the view of a world on fire with color. 

“You’ll fall.” The wind carries the warning of a familiar voice to Donghyuck as he continues to move. 

The grin on his face doesn’t falter. He is not afraid. “You’ll catch me,” he calls back. 

Laughter dances in the wind. 

Donghyuck climbs out until the branch begins to tremble under him, and when he comes to a stop, the brightness of the sunlit treetops is just out of reach. He considers, for a moment, simply stopping here. This close to a sky full of color could be close enough. 

But there’s the spinning and twirling of laughter wrapping around him again, and he knows. He _knows_. 

Donghyuck tenses, coiling like a spring, and then he leaps. 

His hands and feet leave the bark of the branch and he bursts through the veil of leaves crowning the tree. He embraces the sky, and it welcomes him with open arms.

For a split second, he’s floating. A sea of glimmering leaves ripples below him, and on the horizon, the sinking sun blazes. The gold sends him reeling, warms him to his core in spite of the rushing wind. The clouds are streaks of paint turning the canvas of the sky into a masterpiece, close enough that he thinks he could run his fingers through it and change the shape of the heavens. The air is clear and tastes like euphoria on Donghyuck’s tongue. 

When the second passes, everything spins out of focus. Donghyuck falls through the wind, rushing towards the canopy of trees. The ground comes hurtling up at him, but Donghyuck is not afraid. 

A flash of violet, and the scent of jasmine spills over him. Arms wrap around his body and his descent slows and stops just like that. 

“You’re impossible,” Renjun huffs, though his grip on Donghyuck is unfaltering. 

Donghyuck laughs, but there’s a softness to it that soothes any trace of irritation on Renjun’s face. “I didn’t fall.”

“I can change that now, if you’d like.” Renjun doesn’t mean it, doesn’t even pretend to mean it. His eyes are blazing with the reflection of the sun and his hands are as sure as the turning of day into night where he holds Donghyuck. His wings seem to glitter in the sunset, once violet now a breathtaking mix of pink and gold, of midnight blue and starlight silver. 

Donghyuck feels winded.

They sink through the trees together, Renjun unerring in his movement through the branches and Donghyuck remembering how to breathe. It’s dark beneath the canopy, but Renjun carries the luminous glow of moonlight with him. 

His toes touch the ground first, then his feet land in the damp grass. The beat of his wings slows as he lands, until it ceases completely and their familiar violet fades into the half-light. Renjun holds Donghyuck close to his chest, tight in his arms, a beat and a half longer than he needs to, before setting him feet first on the ground at his side.

If Donghyuck smiles, no one but Renjun can see.

Maybe there’s more than one way to fall.

*

Ankle deep in the shallow bank of the river, Donghyuck bends over to splash water at Renjun, floating an inch above the surface. “You’re no fun,” he pouts as Renjun’s wings beat once with greater force and he shoots up into the air to dodge the splash. 

Renjun sinks back down, wings beating lazily once more, and laughs. There’s a glint in his eyes that has little to do with the sun hanging high overhead. “It’s no fun if you don’t have to work for it.”

So that’s the game. 

Donghyuck lunges and Renjun dodges. Donghyuck sends water flying through the air, droplets catching the sunlight and refracting, lighting the brook like little stars. Renjun flits back and forth, stirring up a breeze. He swoops down and Donghyuck ducks. They wade and dance further into the water until Donghyuck is knee-deep and fighting a smile.

Upstream, Renjun levels out, glides through the air on his side. He trails his fingers over the water, teasing. Donghyuck lets out a laugh that’s part frustration and part amusement. There’s something else in it too, but Donghyuck is distracted and it slips past without his realization. “Now you’re just being mean!”

Renjun circles back, winning smile stretching across his face. “You give up?”

“In your dreams.” Donghyuck splashes again, watches Renjun roll out of the way, and kicks out with his leg, sending a stream of water right to the very spot Renjun has flown towards. 

There’s a moment of bright satisfaction as the sky blue of Renjun’s clothes darkens to the same shade as the river, and then Donghyuck loses his balance in the gentle current and crashes into the water. 

Through the rippling surface, he can see a splash half the size of his body rise up into the air, can see it all race back down into the stream like falling stars. The current smooths out around him and Donghyuck comes up again, soaked through and spluttering, sitting on the riverbed. 

Renjun hovers an arm’s reach away, stifling a laugh. “Did that go how you wanted?”

Donghyuck blinks water from his eyes and pushes back the hair that’s plastered to his face. He may be dripping, but Renjun looks noticeably wetter than he had been before Donghyuck went under. It looks like the splash of his fall had hit Renjun head on. Donghyuck grins, teeth and everything. “I think so.”

Before Renjun has a chance to respond, Donghyuck flicks a finger on the surface of the stream and sends a small splash right into Renjun’s face. 

Renjun makes a quite undignified noise and closes the distance between them in an instant. His hands grip Donghyuck’s shoulders and he hauls him out of the river, depositing him on his back in the grass just beside the river. “You’re too brave for your own good, you know that?” Renjun says, tucking his wings away and planting his knees on either side of Donghyuck, pinning him down.

Backlit by the sun, gleaming with water from the river, Renjun looks as intimidating and beautiful as a butterfly. “Not brave,” Donghyuck corrects. “I’m just not scared.”

Renjun blinks. His face goes perfectly smooth, still like the surface of a lake. He lets out a breath, fanning cool against Donghyuck’s damp skin. Renjun’s eyes crinkle, and there’s that smile. Renjun looks like he knows something Donghyuck hasn’t figured out yet. He smiles like he’s just waiting for Donghyuck to realize.

“What?” Donghyuck asks.

A droplet of water drips from Renjun’s hair onto Donghyuck’s cheek. He huffs, lifts a finger to poke Renjun square in the forehead in retribution. 

Still, Renjun smiles. “You’ll figure it out,” he promises. 

Maybe he already knows.

*

“I want to show you something,” Renjun murmurs, holding out a hand to Donghyuck. Dappled moonlight dances across his face as he beckons Donghyuck closer, and he looks serene, a calm certainty in his eyes.

As Donghyuck reaches out to take Renjun’s hand, he has the image in his mind of a white moonflower floating atop a lake. His fingers wrap around Renjun’s and he pictures himself lifting the flower from the water, cradling it in his palm. Ripples spread out across the surface of the lake and make the reflection of a hundred thousand stars dance to silent music. Peace like he only knows here washes over him, and when Donghyuck exhales, he feels brand new. 

Renjun threads their fingers together and smiles, something soft and gentle. 

Leading Donghyuck through the sparse trees at the edge of the woods, Renjun doesn’t speak, but there’s no silence between them. All around, night creatures sing to the stars, to the blue moon. Crickets and grasshoppers, frogs in the winding brook, owls and mockingbirds high in the trees. 

Everything is cast in an ethereal shade of cornflower blue, and Renjun nearly glows in the lowlight. Donghyuck can’t tear his eyes away from him. “Where are we going?”

Renjun glances back, gives Donghyuck’s hand a light squeeze. “You’ll see.”

So Donghyuck nods and lets Renjun lead him down a path he can’t see, wandering through the moonlight, trust in each step he takes. He’s not sure how long they walk - time feels different here, looser - but eventually, he starts to get the feeling they’re almost there. Wherever _there_ is.

Sixteen paces and he gets his answer. In the distance, he can hear music. Unlike anything he’s ever heard beyond this pocket of the world, it is haunting, but it welcomes them. Voices melt together and raise into the air, not quite like Renjun’s, but beautiful in their own way. The sound of instruments Donghyuck knows neither the names or shapes of floats alongside the voices, lifting them up and filling them out. Donghyuck is utterly drawn in.

“You can hear it,” Renjun says, not quite a question. 

Donghyuck nods, wide-eyed with wonder. 

Renjun draws them one step closer before turning to face him. He’s got that small smile on his face again as he looks at Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck almost asks why, but it seems wrong to interrupt the music for such a simple question. Instead, he finds himself smiling back. It’s impossibly easy, really. 

A moment passes, and he finds himself swaying to the song drifting through the woods. Renjun’s smile grows at once wider and softer, and he moves along with Donghyuck. One hand still entwined with Donghyuck’s, he lets the other rest on the nape of Donghyuck’s neck, uses it to pull himself closer to Donghyuck. 

“Do you like it?”

Donghyuck isn’t sure if he’s talking about the music or the dance they’re falling into. It doesn’t matter; the answer is the same. He nods. “It’s amazing.” His free hand settles on Renjun’s waist, anchoring Donghyuck so he knows none of this will float away like he thinks it could. He wants to hold onto this, doesn’t want to let it go.

 _I’m glad_ . Renjun says it with his eyes, gleaming as he drinks in the sight of Donghyuck swaying in his arms under the moonlight. _I love it too._ It’s written across his face, in the smile lines dimpling his cheeks, in the effortless curl of his lips.

 _Can we stay here? Can we stay like this?_ Donghyuck’s hands ask the same questions as Renjun’s, grip tightening, drawing the two of them closer. They answer each other’s questions even as they ask them. 

Donghyuck is helpless to stop the smile tugging at his lips, to hide the adoration in his eyes. He ducks his head and rests it against Renjun’s, hiding what he knows Renjun has already seen. Renjun lets him, running tender fingers across his neck and holding him close.

Donghyuck can feel his heartbeat in his fingers, tangled in Renjun’s. He can feel Renjun’s pulse beating against his palm. The air smells of jasmine, the way it does wherever Renjun is. Donghyuck lets out a breath and it mingles with Renjun’s, and there they are, warm and alive, together. 

Eyes falling shut, Donghyuck gets lost in the music, in Renjun’s touch and presence. Time turns to butter, both thick and slippery. It runs away from Donghyuck. The music swells and changes and spins like it’s living and breathing too, and it doesn’t come to a stop. Donghyuck is grateful.

Slow dancing in the dark, Donghyuck ends up pressed against Renjun, touching more of him than not. Candy on an apple, he relishes in the sweetness. 

“You know,” Renjun whispers, brushing his thumb against Donghyuck’s hand, “I love you.”

Donghyuck opens his eyes to dawn breaking crushed berry across the sky, sparkling on dewdrops. Renjun’s eyes open too, catching morning gold and shining. Donghyuck has never been more sure. “I know.” He leans closer, just a breath left between them. He doesn’t need to ask the same of Renjun; it’s clear as the coming day. Renjun knows, but Donghyuck says it anyway. “I love you.”

The breath between them slips away in the wind. The music and the night life fades off as dawn comes bright and warm to the woods. It’s just the two of them, together, and the smell of jasmine in a summer breeze. Sunrise spills through the woods and lights them up, rosy and golden.

Donghyuck doesn’t need wings to fly.

**Author's Note:**

> i was watching norenmin making perfume on nct daily. renjun said he loved the smell of jasmine and made it the base of his perfume. i thought that was neat and i also thought renjun fairy. that's how we got here.


End file.
